


hide & seek

by rxginamills



Series: a curse that was never cast [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, one of my best au's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 12:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14379021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rxginamills/pseuds/rxginamills
Summary: Regina never set her dark curse. Emma is growing up with Snow and Charming. Now five years old, she wants a friend to play with. As if by magic, Charming's old friend is visiting and he brings his children along. When Emma is playing, Charming takes time to think about his daughter and the fact that she's growing up fast.





	hide & seek

"Emma, where are you?"

Little giggles in the dark.

"Daddy's going to find you!"

More giggles that the little girl is trying to cover.

And suddenly big, strong hands grab Emma from her waist and lift her up in the air. She lets out a loud squeal that echoes in the halls of the castle. She tries to wrestle away but the pair of arms is too strong.

"You found me, daddy!" Emma giggles. Her father, David — better known as Charming — spins her around and laughs happily. He loves being a father and making his little girl happy. Currently they're playing hide and seek and Charming found Emma. She was hiding under a big table.

"I'm too good at this game," Charming teases Emma and puts her down on the floor. She crosses her small arms over her chest.

"Nu-uh! I'm better than you!" Emma sticks out her tongue.

"How about we ask mommy," Charming suggests. Emma's eyes lit up.

"Mommy knows I'm better than you are! Let's go!" Emma exclaims and goes off running towards the master bedroom. Charming smiles as Emma runs off. With her little feet she's not very fast but to herself she's the fastest girl in the world. It makes Charming happy that Emma has her own world where she can be anything she wants to. She's wearing a pink, pretty dress that's fit for any little princess.

Charming follows Emma into the bedroom. She's pulling at her mother's purple dress. Emma's mother turns when Charming arrives and flashes him a smile. Charming is left breathless. This is Snow, Charming's wife. She is by far the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. If Emma isn't included, of course.

"Mommy! Daddy says he's better than me in hide and seek! Tell him that I'm better!" Emma yells. Snow lifts her into her arms and pretends to be deep in thought.

"Hmm...I think you're better, Emma," Snow smirks. Emma lets out a squeal of victory and Charming pretends to be hurt.

"That's not fair! I won't play anymore. Daddy is going to bed sadly now," he pouts. Emma grins.

"You're silly, daddy," she giggles. Charming goes to the bed and lays down. Then he's completely still, pretending to be actually sleeping. Snow smirks because she knows this trick. She's fallen for it many times.

"Daddy? Daddy!" Emma exclaims.

"Let's go wake him up, okay?" Snow suggests. Emma nods furiously. They walk to Charming. Emma pokes his leg a few times and suddenly he shoots up, grabbing Emma and Snow into his arms and falling onto the bed. All three of them are laughing with joy. Snow and Charming live for moments like these with their daughter.

"Daddy! You're funny," Emma giggles as Charming kisses her face all over.

"Hey, am I going to get a kiss too?" Snow fakes to pout. Charming winks his eye at her.

"Of course," he leans forward and places a kiss on Snow's lips. Emma gags.

"Ew,"

Snow and Charming laugh. Snow hugs her daughter, "Exactly, Emma. Ew."

Just then there's a knock on the bedroom door. Charming gets up, straightens his shirt and goes to open. He faces one of the palace guards.

"Your Majesty, your guests have arrived,"

"Thank you, please inform them that we will be there shortly,"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

Charming and the guard bow to each other and the guard leaves. Charming had almost forgotten about this event. He has a friend from the sea and he has come to visit him with his children. He can't seem to remember their names but he knows that they're lovely, his friend has only spoken good about them.

"Who's here, daddy? Is it my Uncle Grumpy? Or Uncle Sleepy? Oooh, or Uncle Happy, he's fun — "

Snow laughs, "No, sweetheart. Your uncles aren't coming to visit today. A nice man with his two children. They're about your age. Maybe they'll play with you!"

"Are they mean, mommy?" Emma asks with a pout.

"No, honey, they're very nice kids. Let's go see them."

Emma is feeling shy so she takes her mother's hand. The family of three heads down to the main hall, where a tall man is waiting with two children. One looks about Emma's age and height but the other is a bit taller and looks a bit older too. They're both kids nonetheless.

A grin spreads on the man's face as he sees Charming approach. They give each other a hug, happy to see each other after a long time.

"Brennan Jones," Charming grins.

"Prince David," the man now known as Brennan says and pats Charming's back.

"Actually, it's king David now," Charming smirks.

"Oh, yes, king David. And this must be your lovely wife Snow! It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness," Brennan bows as Snow comes forward. He takes her hand and kisses it.

"It is an honor to meet you as well, Brennan Jones. David has told me a lot about you," Snow smiles warmly.

"Has he? I hope it's good things, Your Majesty. David is quite a tricky fellow," Brennan says. Snow chuckles.

"He's only spoken good about you, don't worry,"

Brennan and Snow share one more smile before Brennan notices Emma. She is hiding behind Snow's back.

"David! Is this your daughter?" Brennan asks.

"Yes! Brennan, this is Emma. Emma, baby, say hello," Charming encourages Emma. She shakes her head quietly and hides deeper into Snow's dress.

"Hello Emma. My name is Brennan," Brennan kneels down to Emma's level. She doesn't respond so Brennan takes a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his jacket. He opens it.

"Your father told me you like constellations. Can you tell me which constellation this is?" Brennan asks. Emma's eyes lit up. She loves to watch the stars with her parents and her father has taught her many constellations. She peeks from behind Snow.

"Andromeda," Emma says quietly. Andromeda is her favorite constellation because his father used to say that it was named Emma and she always corrected him.

"Correct! Great job!" Brennan claps his hands together to excite Emma. Then he offers the drawing to her.

"You can have it," Brennan smiles. Emma goes forward and takes the paper.

"Emma, what do you say?" Snow reminds her.

"Thank you. And hi." Emma giggles. Brennan gets up and turns to his own children.

"Kids, come over here," he says and waves his arm. The two kids — boys, in fact — approach Emma, Snow and Charming. They both have blue eyes but the smaller boy's hair is black while the taller one has brown hair. They look innocent and happy and Charming knows that they look up to their father a lot.

"These are my sons. This is Liam, he's eight," Brennan motions to the taller boy, "and this is Killian, my five-year-old," he pats the head of the smaller boy, "say hello, boys."

"Hello," Liam says.

"Hi..." Killian is more shy than Liam. He, much like Emma, hides behind Brennan's legs.

"Hello Liam and Killian. I'm Charming, this is Snow and that's Emma." Charming introduces himself and his wife. Liam gives him a smile but Killian says nothing.

"Boys, Emma's parents and I have a lot of catching up to do so why don't you go and play with Emma," Brennan suggests.

"Okay!" Killian exclaims, smiling. His shyness is gone for a moment. Emma approaches him.

"We can play hide and seek! It's my favorite game and I'm super duper good at it!" she squeals.

"Really? Well, I'm super duper uber good at it!" Killian insists proudly.

"How about you two go find out just how good the both of you are. Emma can search for Killian first. But stay in this hall," Charming says. Emma runs to find herself a place where she can count. She doesn't know that many numbers but Snow has taught her them up to ten. Killian goes to find a hiding place.

"Liam, go with them," Brennan says.

"I don't want to play, I want to hear your stories, dad," Liam insists.

"Very well then. Come here," Brennan pats his knees and Liam climbs onto his lap, "Oh! Goodness, you've gotten heavy."

And so Charming, Snow and Brennan share their stories and what they've been doing while Liam listens to every word and occasionally makes an explosion sound with his mouth, explaining some cool thing his father did. Charming notices Emma wobbling around the hall, searching for Killian. From his seat Charming can see that Killian is hiding behind an armor that is standing against the wall. Little Killian is the perfect size because for now the armor is huge compared to him.

"Killian! Killiaaaan! Where aaaare youuuu?" Emma chants as she looks around. All of a sudden she lets out a squeal, causing Snow and Charming to look in her direction.

"I found you! I did! I found you I found you I FOUND YOU! I told you I'm super duper uber mega good at this game!" Emma claps her hands together as Killian comes out of her hiding place. Charming smiles. The wide grin on his little princess' face makes him happy. Charming would dedicate his life to make sure she's always happy, to protect her from boys with reckless hearts and not so good intentions and to heal her broken hearts. Emma is already five and Charming fears that his time to do that will come too soon.

"Okay my turn! One! Two! Three..."

Emma hides under a couch while Killian counts. Charming, Snow and Brennan continue their storytelling.

"...and when I saw the ring on her finger I knew that this was the woman I wanted to spend my life with." Charming finishes his tale about himself and Snow. They take each other's hands lovingly.

"That's very sweet. Me and my wife...well, that's a different tale. She was one of the very few female sailors that I saw during the trips of my early days. She was a captain, too! That woman didn't take dirt from anyone. I fell for her the moment I saw her for the first time. Her name was Harlow. An unique one, eh? The best day of my life was when she married me and became Harlow Jones and we had these two rascals. Unfortunately she caught an illness when Killian was only a year old and died. I miss her every single day..." Brennan looks down at his hands for a moment.

"I'm so sorry," Snow squeezes Brennan's hand slightly.

"Ah, it's alright. I have my boys keeping me sane. Their love is everything I need and I know that Harlow is in a better place," Brennan smiles. Just then there's a shout coming from near Emma's hiding place:

"I FOUND YOU! I FOUND YOU EMMA!"

Emma crawls out from under the couch and laughs when Killian sticks his tongue out victoriously.

"Daddy, come and play with us!" she yells for Charming.

"Dad, you should come too!" Killian encourages his father. The two friends smirk at each other before they get up from their seats. Liam still doesn't want to play and Snow doesn't take part either.

"Okay, daddy will search while me, Killian and Killian's dad go hide!" Emma instructs with an adorable bossy voice.

"Anything for you honey," Charming says and puts his hands over his eyes. He hears small footsteps and big footsteps disappearing to the distance while he counts.

"Liam," Snow says gently. The boy turns to look at her, "Your father told me that you like old maps and such. I have a book right here. Emma's father and I have collected maps and letters and other things from our adventures into this book. Would you like to take a look at it?"

Liam nods excitedly and Snow places a big, slightly dusty book in front of him. He opens it.

"Treat it carefully," Snow reminds him.

"I will," Liam smiles. He starts to look through the book while Charming has counted to thirty and started to look for Brennan, Killian and Emma. He finds Brennan first. He was purposely in a place easy to find. Next he finds Killian, who made the mistake of hiding in the place Emma hid in before. Lastly he finds Emma, who was in a trickier place. She hid in a huge cupboard. Charming grabs her into his arms and spins her around. Her little legs are high up in the air and her giggles fill the room.

"I found you," he whispers into her ear. She giggles and Charming places her down.

"Let's go again! Daddy can you search again? Pleaseeee!" Emma pleads. Charming nods. Killian and Emma squeal excitedly and Charming goes to Snow. He turns his back on the hall so he doesn't see where the kids go.

"Emma's growing up fast, isn't she?" he asks and puts an arm around Snow's waist.

"She is. I remember the day I gave birth to her, it feels like yesterday. But she's still your little girl, if that's what you're worried about," Snow smirks. Charming sighs.

"I am...I'm not looking forward to sharpening my sword and running after every single man who breaks her heart. It's not good for my back," he answers. Snow laughs and kisses him softly.

"I love Emma so much, she's my little princess...I'm not ready to let her go," he says, leaning his forehead against Snow's.

"You'll never have to. Now, I think you should go find her and Killian," Snow kisses him again and then sends him off. Brennan winks his eye at him and then focuses onto Snow and Charming's book with Liam.

"I'm going to find you, Emma!" Charming shouts happily as he starts to search for his daughter once more. Her small giggles come from somewhere. Charming smiles contently. His friend is happy with his children, his family is happy...now he just has to find Emma from her hiding place.

"I will always find you."


End file.
